Images of a Valley

Over the years, a number of artists and exhibitions have documented various aspects of the region of Kashmir — its culture, politics, people and their day-to-day lives. Some have lived in the region, while others have visited and photographed it from the point of view of visitors. Over the next six days, as part of the Chiang Mai Documentary Arts Festival in Thailand, the Delhi-based Emaho Magazine will showcase a series of photographs on Kashmir. It is in collaboration with Documentary Arts Asia, a non-profit organisation.

The works of 11 photographers from around the world portray Kashmir as they saw it during their time there. Curated by Manik Katyal, founder and editor-in-chief, Emaho Magazine, and Japanese curator Yumi Goto, this show stays away from all things political. The photographs have been taken over the last 25 years in Kashmir.

The photographers include four Kashmiris — Danish Ismail, Sumit Dayal, Showkat Nanda and Faheem Qadri — American photojournalists Ami Vitale and Robert Nickelsberg, and Belgian Magnum Photos photographer John Vink, among others.

“I wanted to showcase more local photographers, but situations changed and some local photographers never got the permission to participate in the exhibition,” says Katyal. “Robert Nickelsberg’s work from 1989 has historic value because that was a time when not too many photographers were documenting Kashmir,” says Katyal.

Meanwhile, Nanda’s body of work is a great deal more personal. “The photographs I have done on Kashmir, most of which are conflict-related, are not only about the people, but also about myself,” he says. “I try to detach myself from whatever is happening on the other side of the camera. But when I look at my own pictures, I become nothing more than a viewer — a common man who identifies himself with these people.”